Mayawati agrees to women Black Cats

The idea was that women VIPs would be more comfortable with women commandoes.

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NEW DELHI: BSP supremo Mayawati, who had earlier refused to have women National Security Guard (NSG) commandoes in her Z plus security squad, has now agreed to let them guard her against possible threats. Sources said that bad press following her refusal last year is likely to have influenced her decision as being a woman politician she would not like to be viewed as one harbouring anti-women bias.

Last year, NSG had raised a 25-member-strong women commando squad with a view to providing security to women VIPs. The obvious choices were Mayawati and Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa — both of whom were accorded Z plus security. The idea was that women VIPs would be more comfortable with women commandoes. However, both these leaders refused to have feminine black cats as their shadows, which put NSG in a fix over how to put the squad to use.

Earlier this year, however, Mayawati agreed to have women in her Z plus security squad and is now guarded by a mix of male and female commandoes. Sources said that the force is now trying to push for the same arrangement with Jayalalithaa.

Chhattisgarh CM Raman Singh has become the latest politician to join the list of VIPs guarded by the elite 'black cat' commandos. NSG DG Arvind Ranjan confirmed that the home ministry had cleared the proposal and a formal order would be issued soon.

Singh, who is being guarded by a special police squad, is believed to have threat from left-wing extremists who have a strong presence in his state.

Singh would be the 18th protectee of the elite commando squad after Uttar Pradesh CM Akhilesh Yadav was brought under NSG's security cover late last year. A 19th addition to the list could be Punjab deputy CM Sukhbir Singh Badal who too is likely to get Z plus security after mandatory clearance from the home ministry.

Badal's father and Punjab CM Parkash Singh Badal has NSG 'black cats'. NSG, according to sources, had trained a special team of Punjab Police commandos for these VIP security duties last year for three weeks, and it was supposed to take over the CM's security from NSG but it never happened.